• A light lunch will be provided at 11:45; the speaker will be introduced at 12:05.
• UW faculty, law school personnel, ILS affiliates and cosponsors, please register for lunch by contacting Theresa Dougherty at 2-0618 or tmdoughe@wisc.edu.
• Self-serve beverages in Lubar Commons include coffee, decaf, tea, & ice water. Soft drinks are available from vending machines on the 2nd floor.
  
  Abstract: In 1995 the dispute resolution system of the WTO was transformed to make it more effective in enforcing WTO rules. Ironically, the improvements in the dispute resolution system have contributed directly to greater conflict in the WTO. The problem, Alter argues, is that the political-judicial balance that at the domestic level keeps courts in sync with political sentiment does not work at the international level. Alter offers a solution: intentionally building political checks into internationally legalized processes. In her talk she will explain how this would work in the context of the WTO.

Karen Alter is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University. She holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in 2000-1 was a German Marshall Fund Scholar and an Emile Noël Fellow at Harvard Law School. Her current reserach investigates whether the design of international legal mechanisms enhances or undermines the ability of international law to shape state behavior. Alter is author of: Establishing the Supremacy of European Law: The Making of an International Rule of Law in Europe (Oxford University Press, 2001), and numerous articles and book chapters on the European Union's legal system including: "Who are the Masters of the Treaty? European Governments and the European Court of Justice" (International Organization, 1998); "The European Legal System and Domestic Policy: Spillover or Backlash" (International Organization, 2000); and "Explaining Variation in the Use of European Litigation Strategies: EC Law and UK Gender Quality Policy" (coauthored with Jeannette Vargas, Comparative Political Studies, 2000). Alter is on the editorial board of European Union Politics, and the executive committee of the European Communities Studies Association (ECSA).

The WAGE Transatlantic Relations Project is cosponsored by WAGE, the European Union Center, CIBER, the Institute for Legal Studies, the Institute for Environmental Studies, the International Practice Section of the Wisconsin State Bar, and the University of Wisconsin Law School.

This series of presentations is hosted by WAGE Senior Fellow Professor Gregory Shaffer, UW-Madison Law School.|

For more information, please contact the European Union Center (eucenter@intl-institute.wisc.edu or 265-8040).